Geetika’s suicide hit her hard

The residential neighbourhood of North Delhi’s Ashok Vihar, Phase III, turned into a fortress for the second time in six months as Geetika Sharma’s mother Anuradha Sharma committed suicide at her house on Friday.

The police cordoned off the area and blocked the main entry gate of the DDA colony where the Sharma family lived. While no one from the family could be contacted, the neighbours were shocked at the development.

“Ever since Geetika’s death, the whole family was scared about what would happen next, especially if Gopal Kanda was let off. Geetika’s mother also had a feeling that she had not been able to save her daughter or get her any sort of justice,” said Goldie, the family’s next-door neighbour.

Geetika had committed suicide in August last year alleging “mental harassment” by her boss, then minister of state for home affairs in the Haryana government and managing director of MDLR group, Gopal Goyal Kanda. Kanda has since been arrested. The human resource office of MDLR group, Aruna Chaddha, was also arrested in the case.

Geetika’s family had been alleging that Kanda’s associates were pressuring them to withdraw the complaint against Kanda ever since the trial started.

“The family had become reserved after Geetika’s death and we also did not want to intrude and cause them more pain. Anuradha had joined work but did not interact with many people in the colony and kept to herself. The incident has come as a shock to us,” said another neighbour, who did not want to be named.

Anuradha Sharma hanged herself on Friday evening. According to the suicide note left by her, she was depressed after the death of her daughter and could not get over the trauma of Geetika’s suicide. She also held Kanda and Chaddha responsible for the daughter’s death.

A case of abetment to suicide has been registered against Kanda and Chaddha at north Delhi’s Bharat Nagar Police station.

“We have registered a case and will approach the court to seek their custody for questioning. Kanda’s associates and relatives will also be called for questioning to ascertain whether they were threatening the family,” said a senior police officer.

Anuradha Sharma’s phone was also seized by the police.

“We will scan Anuradha’s phone call records to ascertain whether she had been contacted by Kanda’s associates. The call records of the rest of the family members will also be examined. Moreover, we will record the statements of her family members,” the officer added.